Book Tour: Always His by CA Harms
ALWAYS HIS by CA Harms
Series: Craved Devotion Book 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Forgiveness …
It isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Becoming a Marine had been Ryker’s
dream, but that dream faded when it led to losing the one girl who
held his heart.
Returning to Alabama after being gone
for more than five years was going to be hard, but he couldn’t
continue to live without her.
His world seemed empty and there was
only one thing that could heal that void.
Find Nicole…
Beg for her forgiveness…
And never let her go again.
She would always be his...
“Hey, Nic, when you gonna give a guy
a chance?” A deep chuckle followed Jimmy’s attempt at snagging
that date he’d been working on for months.
I didn’t even take the time to turn
and acknowledge him. The man pulled the same shit every Friday and
Saturday night. He was at least five years older than me and had a
beer gut the size of a pregnant woman’s in her last trimester. He
was harmless, but he loved to fire me up. Guys like him were one of
the things that came with working in a small-town bar and grill.
Lucy’s was the place to be, and all the hopeless men seemed to
flock to it, hoping to get lucky.
“Come on, sweetheart, just a chance
is all I’m asking.” I heard a few more chuckles from the men he
was sitting with. They too had heard this song and dance, time and
time again.
“I’ve given two chances to two
different men in my life, and both times I got screwed over. Ain’t
gonna happen again, Jimmy.” I continued to clean off tables as the
night came closer to an end.
Most people in town knew the details of
my story. They knew the heartache I felt when Ryker left and never
returned. They watched as I moped around town, missing him with
everything inside me. They watched as I slowly began to self-destruct
and fall to pieces.
I should have been smart enough to
realize when Tyler Murphy started hanging around me that he had an
ulterior motive. But I was young and vulnerable, and he saw right
through it. He was able to catch me at my weakest, and nine months
later I had a sweet little baby girl to show for that one night of
drinking. Now, I wouldn’t change the fact I was a mother to a
darling three year-old angel, but I sure would change who her daddy
was.
Tyler has only seen his daughter a
handful of times in her short life, and he had made every one of
those times all about him. He was a worthless piece of shit, and most
days I thanked God he kept his distance. I didn’t want Tori to be
influenced by her father. He was too drunk to see straight
practically every day of the week, and I didn’t want my baby girl
to have that type of disappointment in her life.
“Lay off, Jimmy.” Speaking of
Tyler, I closed my eyes tightly as his voice grew louder and closer.
The moment his hand touched my hip, I spun around and shoved the
half-empty beer bottle I’d been holding in his face.
“Touch me again and you’ll be
picking glass shards out of your head for weeks.”
Tyler narrowed his eyes and smirked.
“Still feisty as hell.” He backed up and held his hands out in
surrender. “You know how much that turns me on, babe.”
“I also know we could put a dress on
a pig and you’d still sport wood,” I fired back and walked off
toward the bar to empty my arms. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with
Tyler’s shit. “I think you need to spend less time worrying about
getting laid and more time providing for Tori. You know, your
daughter.”
“Come on, Nicole, don’t be like
that.” He gave me his best charming smile while taking a seat on
the barstool on the other side of the bar. “I’ll give you some
money next week.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve
been hearing that same shit from you every month. When do you plan on
following through? A child is not an occasional responsibility, it’s
an every-damn-day and-night obligation. When are you ever gonna grow
the hell up?” I could feel my ears getting hotter with every word I
spoke. “You are twenty-five years old, and I swear to God, most
twelve year-olds have more sense than you do.” I slammed the
bottles into the garbage can and fought to control my anger.
“You didn’t think I was that bad
the night you crawled in bed with me.” This was Tyler’s game. He
was always throwing our one night of nothing special in my face.
“That’s not the way I remember it
at all. I remember being upset and you continued mixing drinks for
me. It’s sure is funny that after about the third one, I remember
nothing until I woke up the next morning and looked over to find you.
Hell, I even contemplated gnawing off my own leg for fear of waking
you if I moved it from beneath your legs.” His smirk had finally
fallen from his face. “All I wanted to do was wash that mistake
from my memory. Forget I ever believed you actually wanted to be a
friend. The only good that ever came of that night was Victoria, and
I wish more than anything your sorry ass wasn’t her father. Because
that little angel deserves more than what you could ever give her.”
Tyler pushed up from the barstool, and
it fell to the ground behind him. The few people that were still
lingering around the bar turned to watch as he leaned in, placing his
hands on top of the bar. “What do you expect me to be, more like
your sweet Ryker?” When Tyler said the name, his nostrils flared
with irritation. “Just face it, Nicole, no one will ever be able to
be who you want. Everyone that tries will just be competing with him.
But you need to remember this.” His cockiness returned, and my
heart was racing. The mention of Ryker always got a reaction out of
me. “He left you, without looking back. Not so much the perfect
man, if you ask me.”
Without thinking I lunged at Tyler and
swung my fist, and it connected with his lower lip. A set of strong
arms wrapped around me from behind, and I knew it was Greg, the
bartender.
“Get out of here, Tyler, before I
turn her loose,” he said.
Tyler licked the small amount of blood
on his lip before backing away with a smirk. “See you later, Sweet
Pea. Give Tori a kiss good night from her daddy.”
I tugged at Greg’s hands, trying to
get away, but he only held me tighter. “Slow down, darlin’, that
man ain’t worth the time or the energy.”
He was right, I knew that, but it still
didn’t tame the need to beat his ass. Tyler Murphy was and would
always be a worthless drunk. He played games, and I refused to allow
him to play me.
AMAZING! Ms. CA nailed it again! Her books really blew me away (almost all - the books that I've read so far). This book, made me emotional. I love Nicole. For me she's a strong woman, despite what happened to her, she did her best for the people she loves. Ryker on the other hand, I was a bit disappointed with him on how he dealt his relationship with Nicole before he went to pursue his dream. Anyway, when he went back, things are not as it was in the past. Many things happened and Nicole changed. What I love about this book is that Nicole and Ryker's story had me interested from the start up to the last to see what will happen to this two! Loved it!
C.A. Harms is like any other addicted
reader. She enjoys happy endings and HEA love stories. She hasn't
always been a lover of Romance and had once been addicted to a good
Mystery. Just recently she has taken on a new liking and now is a
full blown Romance novel addict.
She lives in Illinois and enjoys
spending time with her husband and two children. You will always find
her with her kindle or paperback in hand as it is her favorite pass
time.
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